RIP - Bill Withers

[Michchamp]

singer-songwriter, and decent human being...

wrote the hits: "Lean on Me," "Just the Two of Us," "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lovely Day," and "Use Me"

all his songs were pretty great though. My personal fave is "Harlem" he was 81; died of heart complications.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Rest in peace. I loved the song Ain’t No Sunshine.

 

[Michchamp]

Just a regular guy:

"Withers, who overcame a childhood stutter, was born the last of six children in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. After his parents divorced when he was 3, Withers was raised by his mother’s family in nearby Beckley.

He joined the Navy at 17 and spent nine years in the service as an aircraft mechanic installing toilets. After his discharge, he moved to Los Angeles, worked at an aircraft parts factory, bought a guitar at a pawn shop and recorded demos of his tunes in hopes of landing a recording contract.

In 1971, signed to Sussex Records, he put out his first album, “Just As I Am,” with the legendary Booker T. Jones at the helm. It had the hits “Grandma’s Hands” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which was inspired by the Jack Lemmon film “Days of Wine and Roses.” He was photographed on the cover, smiling and holding his lunch pail."